THE BREAKDOWN: How Arsenal obliterated Tottenham's deep block to claim north London derby glory - how Mikel Merino tormented Thomas Frank's defence, wingers' central role and a trademark new pass

As Eberechi Eze peeled away towards the corner flag, with the first north London derby hat-trick in nearly 50 years complete and a match ball on its way, Mikel Merino afforded himself the slightest of punches to the sky.

The cameras all pointed to boyhood Arsenal fan Eze, about whom the headlines were already being written, but it was once again a centre forward standing more than 30 yards from goal who made it all possible.

Merino’s selfless performance, in the absence of injured summer signing Viktor Gyokeres, was key to the Gunners dismantling Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium.

Gyokeres’s arrival in the summer, as The Breakdown has discussed already this season , gave Mikel Arteta a more traditional focal point in attack, and allowed his side to play more direct with a striker able to stretch defences with his pace and runs in behind.

Merino did the opposite, and it was just what Arsenal needed to wreak havoc against the Spurs’ wing-back system deployed by Thomas Frank . The Spaniard started up front but was anything but a traditional No9.

He dropped deep to give space for Eze to essentially become the striker and get on the ball in scoring areas. Merino allowed Arsenal’s wingers to make diagonal runs into central positions and had just a single touch in the Tottenham box, while also winning more tackles than any other player in a red shirt all afternoon.

His average position against Tottenham was deeper than Eze and almost as far back as full backs Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber (see below).

Arsenal's Mikel Merino played as a so-called 'defensive nine' in their 4-1 win over Tottenham, dropping deep and allowing hat-trick hero Eberechi Eze to play in more advanced areas

Boyhood Arsenal fan Eze lets fly to complete a dream evening at the Emirates and seal a thumping win for the Gunners

But while Eze understandably stole the headlines, his team-mate Merino (right) played an incredibly influential role too

Despite notionally playing as a striker, Merino won more tackles than any other Arsenal player

‘A defensive nine,’ was how Arteta phrased it with a smile after the game in response to a question of whether it annoys him that people just think of Merino as the least attacking of all strikers.

This is a player, after all, with 27 goals and assists for club and country this calendar year.

‘He was incredible again, and we are asking him to feel as a nine, and he's not a nine, and to do a lot of the things that a nine has to do,’ said Arteta. ‘But he's such an intelligent player, and his work ethic and his desire to contribute and make others better is that big. And again, those performances give you all the right reasons to continue to trust him.’

His pass for Leandro Trossard’s opener was a beauty but his positioning in the build-up to the goal was just as dangerous, and an issue for Spurs throughout.

Frank’s decision to play with a back five meant the Spurs midfield duo of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur had too much space to cover in the middle of the pitch, a problem long suffered by Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United.

With Merino dropping in, often doing so wider than the Spurs pivot, and rotating with Eze in the No10 role, it left that midfield pair with too many players to deal with.

Merino's touch map from the north London derby reveals how much he dropped deep, with the Spaniard having just one touch beyond the edge of the Spurs box

Eze, by contrast, had seven touches in the Tottenham box, despite playing as a No10

For Trossard’s goal, Merino drops deep and finds acres of space with Palhinha, Bentancur and Wilson Odobert all trying to close down Timber. Merino receives the ball and has all the time in the world to produce his wonderful ball over the top for Trossard.

Merino's nous to drop deep, find space and play intelligent passes over the top of defences was on show for Leandro Trossard's opener on Sunday

By the time he plays the pass, both Saka and Trossard are the most central attacking players.

Arsenal's wingers Trossard and Bukayo Saka occupy dangerous positions in and around the box for the goal - again, all thanks to Trossard

It’s not like Tottenham hadn’t been given a warning. Just four minutes earlier, Merino is even deeper this time and plays a pass to Saka on the right. Eze is deep, too, and Spurs' centre backs are stood with no red shirts around them and no idea who to pick up.

Saka turns and drives towards goal while Trossard makes another diagonal run into the box. Bentancur has no option but to bring Saka down and take the booking.

Spurs were given a warning before Arsenal's opener came about in similar fashion - here Merino (No23) again pulls away from a centre forward position to free up Saka and Trossard

Merino’s desire to create space for his team-mates allowed Arsenal to flood Spurs with forward runners from all areas, whether that be Calafiori and Timber or Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi from midfield.

Here’s Eze’s first goal. Merino drops in and Zubimendi charges into the space left behind. Kevin Danso follows him, which leaves Eze completely unmarked. He eventually receives the ball from Rice after Spurs momentarily clear it and buries it.

For Eze's first goal, Merino (circled) again vacates space for the No10 and Martin Zubimendi to exploit

It’s Rice’s turn for Eze’s second. Merino has wandered to the right touchline this time and Rice makes the darting run into the box, as does Saka off the flank. Cristian Romero follows Rice leaving, you guessed it, Eze unmarked again.

With Merino again on the touchline, this time it's Declan Rice's turn to run into the box - and as Cristian Romero follows him, Eze is unmarked to score his second

When Spurs tried to do something about it, having switched to a back four for the second half, Arsenal were still able to exploit it for Eze’s hat-trick.

Spurs lump yet another long ball forward that comes straight back. Merino’s superb hold-up play draws his centre back while Trossard and Saka make their central runs in the space behind the full backs. Pape Matar Sarr loses the run of Eze and, bang, it’s four.

Tottenham's shift to a back four didn't stop Arsenal's threat. For Eze's third goal, Merino holds the ball up brilliantly, allowing his team-mates to run beyond him

It was a riot and Merino was at the heart of it. His ability to drop off the centre backs and leave space for his team-mates to run into is a tactic Arsenal have used to great effect whenever he’s led the line.

With a direct, attacking player like Eze behind him instead of a creator like skipper Martin Odegaard, it gives the Gunners yet more firepower.

He did the same against Real Madrid to tee up Saka during the Gunners’ famous win at the Bernabeu last season.

Merino's ability to drop deep and play brilliant balls to tear apart defences is nothing new - he did just that for Bukayo Saka's goal in the Gunners' 2-1 win in the Bernabeu last season

And that chipped ball over the top is a tactic Mikel Arteta seems to love - Zubimendi (No36) tried it in Arsenal's 2-1 win at Newcastle in September

And that majestic scoop pass behind the defensive line he provided for Trossard is a weapon Arteta is clearly keen to utilise, one that could well be helping fire Arsenal to the title.

Eze played a similar ball to tee up Rice for a golden chance in the first few minutes on Sunday, while Zubimendi attempted the same during Arsenal’s win at Newcastle and created a fine opportunity for Timber.

In Merino, they have a player that can do the lot. A defensive nine? Not a chance.